Over the next few days, Lyra felt that James was making a pointed effort to talk to her more. Him and the Marauders would join them for lunch or dinner, James always sitting next to her and always chatting away animatedly to her; asking her about her day, how her lessons were going. It only made what had happened in Potions feel even worse. She had been so embarrassed and upset that he had ditched her like that; for the first time in six years, she had been partnerless in Potions. And she had ended up with Snape. She had totally played it down to James, but she had, admittedly, cried that evening in the dormitory when she was sure the other girls were asleep, incredibly upset at how her and James were drifting apart. She would give anything for them to go back to how they were, but it was seemingly impossibly with Lily around, and with James so evidently in love with her. But this was just who they were now, and Lyra would need to get used to not being as close to James anymore. With everything that had happened, it had been an emotional first week and she was glad when the weekend came around as James would be busy with Quidditch today. She had promised him she would go to watch try outs but then her and Rosie were going to hang out and she was looking forward to having a break from James in all honesty.

As such, she felt a little happier than she had in a few days, the day promising to be a beautiful one. When she got out of the shower, the other girls were up, all talking about how warm it was already and they too, all seemed to be heading to watch try outs. Polly even turned to Lyra and asked her if she wanted to go with them which she was pleasantly surprised by, nodding as they included both her and Rosie in their conversations about outfits. Polly and Alice were nice but as a group, the girls had divided themselves into two, but it was nice for them to do something together for a change. As such, Lyra was in very high spirits as the four of them went down to breakfast, Lyra finding herself chatting happily to the other two girls, laughing at Alice's summertime stories as they ate breakfast. When they noticed the hall beginning to empty, Lyra got up and made her way out of the hall with the others, waving at James as he went past, almost running so as to not be late for try outs.

"Hey Lyra?" she turned to find Polly waiting for her, Alice, and Rosie walking ahead, looking like they were trying to get the attention of the sixth year Ravenclaw guys.

"Sorry" Lyra apologised, hurrying out alongside Polly.

"Oh, it's no problem. Hey, I just wanted to say that James ditching you in Potions was seriously shit of him" she was surprised by this turn in the conversation, seeing Polly looking at her closely.

"Oh, well he wanted to be with Lily" she said simply, not sure what else to say.

"Yeah, but you two are always partners. And we heard him ask you if you didn't mind him being with Lily. I'm just saying Lyra, it was a really shit move from him" Polly said with a shrug. "You're way too good a person to be friends with him" Lyra felt slightly defensive on James…until she realised she didn't have much of an argument.

"It's just because he's got a new thing with Lily" she attempted, Polly scoffing.

"You mean she's got him wrapped around her finger because they're shagging" she said bluntly, Lyra trying not to blush as she didn't want Polly to think she was lame and a prude. Lyra shrugged and Polly laughed. "Like I said Lyra, you're too nice for him. And, whilst we're on the topic, I'm sorry we've left you out over the years. That was really shit of us" Lyra was being surprised left, right and centre today. "And I just, well, I hope we can be friends moving forward?" Polly asked her, sounding totally sincere. Lyra nodded, smiling.

"I'd really like that" she said honestly, thinking she could do with some new friends.

"Me too" Polly replied, smiling widely at her.

"Oi you two, hurry up else we'll get shit seats and there is some serious talent on offer today" Alice yelled, making both Polly and Lyra laugh as they hurried forward, joining her and Rosie as they made their way up to the stands, Alice busy telling them all about the 'talent' to watch out for.

James had had a great trial and was chuffed when Richardson told him he'd made the team, back in his position as Seeker. He couldn't wait to tell Lyra, scanning for her and finding her walking past the pitch…and he had to admit surprised to see her with the other girls in her house. She looked…really happy, smiling and laughing.

"Ly!" he yelled at her, seeing her look over and say something to the others, all four of them making their way over.

"James!" he turned, finding Lily running over to him and grinned at her as she threw herself at him, making him laugh as he picked her up and she wrapped her legs around him. "I'm so proud of you!" she kissed him, delighting him until people started cheering and whistling, James pulling away and setting her down. "Might have to treat you later" she whispered to him, making him almost instantly hard, which Lily definitely knew as she was grinning.

"Terrible" James murmured, making her laugh as his attention was diverted by Richardson.

"Potter, come here a mo" he was surprised but excused himself from Lily and jogged over, finding Lyra still heading his way. "Introduce me to Thompson, would you?" James stared at him, suddenly remembering it had been Jacob who had helped Lyra with her luggage.

"Why? If you're messing with her, I swear to Merlin Richardson, captain or not I'll jinx you so bad" it was instinctive at this stage, but Richardson shook his head.

"Would you chill out? She's insanely hot, like, when the hell did that happen?" was all he could say as by then the girls were in hearing distance and so they had to stop.

"Hey" Lyra headed out in front of the other girls, James noticing how she glanced to Lily before focusing back on him.

"Hey! Ly, I made seeker" he couldn't help but sound excited, glad when she beamed at him. She looked like she was going to move to hug him but then paused, stepping back instead.

"Well done, although I'm not surprised. You have been training religiously" she reminded him, although he was a little hurt she didn't hug him. At this point, Richardson gave a pointed cough and he saw Lyra jump in surprise.

"Oh um" James hesitated, not really wanting to do this but he couldn't find an excuse not to. "Ly, I don't know whether you know Rich-Jacob? He's our team captain" Lyra blushed, nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. James frowned before turning to Richardson who was smiling at her. "Er, Jacob this is my best friend, Lyra" he said, although not happy about it.

"Hi Lyra. I'm sorry, I feel really bad we've not spoken before" Jacob said, sounding charming, and he could tell Lyra thought so too, judging by the small smile on her face.

"Oh, that's okay" her usual go to line, one he'd heard a lot lately…

"It's not but I'm hoping we see more of each other this year" Lyra blushed again at this, her hands smoothing her dress which drew James's attention to the fact she was dressed very nicely…more nicely than she usually would. He tilted his head, realising she'd done her hair as well and that she looked…Jacob was right, she did look hot.

"Ly you coming?" Rosie called as Lyra nodded.

"Sorry I gotta go. I'll see you later" she addressed James, but her eyes darted to Jacob.

"I'll make sure you do" Jacob told her, Lyra smiling at this before she turned and walked away, James unable to speak as he watched her go, sure she was swaying her hips a little more than she usually would. The girls were all grinning at her, all four of them bursting into furious conversation and he saw how Lyra looked behind her, her eyes on Jacob and smiling before they disappeared from view.

"Thanks for that Potter" Richardson clapped him on the back before heading to his own friends, leaving James utterly nonplussed as to what, exactly, had just happened.

Secretly, Lyra was thrilled that Jacob Richardson had once again made the effort to speak to her. And more than that, she had a suspicion he had asked James to introduce him to her. Plus, he had watched her walk away. However, she still had memories of the last time she thought one of the older guys might be into her, although the girls were doing a good job making her feel more confident. It had helped that at lunch, Jacob had waved to her across the Great Hall, and she had tried hard not to blush, the other girls telling her to wave back which she did and she saw Jacob give her a big smile in return. He was…he was really hot. And he seemed nice, Polly telling Lyra she'd do some digging and find out more on him for her which was nice. The acceptance of the other girls and the way Jacob was regularly smiling at her had really made her weekend and she found herself not really upset that James hadn't spoken to her other than at the quidditch try outs on Saturday. She'd caught his eye a few times and he'd smiled at her, but then he was always getting distracted by Lily and seemed to forget about her.

On Sunday evening, Lyra had confided in Rosie that she was a bit upset still about James and although Rosie had said she had every right to be, she did then remind Lyra she had other things to think about…like the attention of a very hot Gryffindor quidditch captain. Rosie saying it like that had, however, made her think he couldn't possibly like her; he was one of the most popular boys in school. He'd never even noticed she'd existed until this year suddenly and it surely had to be a joke. Lyra spiralled quickly and Rosie had done her best but had attracted the attention of Polly and Alice who also jumped on the bandwagon and assured her that it was because, apparently, she was hot. It had only made her blush and shut the conversation down, but she still felt nervous heading into the next week of school.

Jacob, Lyra found, started to spring up everywhere. She saw him in the corridor between classes where he would pause and speak to her, making her blush but secretly very excited. Lyra had even found him in the library on Tuesday in one of her free periods. Evidently, he had a free and, she felt bad for thinking it, surprisingly working. He had just smiled at her and immediately moved his stuff, gesturing to the free seat on his table. Lyra had hesitated but he looked at her expectantly and so she found herself moving over. Jacob had whispered a hi and then gone back to his work, leaving her to get on with hers. It was strange and when the bell had gone, he'd packed up and walked out with her, asking her about her day. Lyra found herself opening up to him and felt like her spirits had lifted for the rest of the day.

James, however, was a different matter. The only time Lyra really spoke to him that week was in Potions when he always seemed to be needing ingredients when she had, pausing her to stop in the store cupboard…where the others couldn't see them. James otherwise was occupied with Lily, and, in fact, Lyra spoke to Remus, Sirius and Peter more than she did James. However, she tried not to think about it too much and instead focus on the good things, like her developing friendship with Polly and Alice and whatever it was that was going on with Jacob.

James felt…he felt lost without Lyra. But every time he would want to go and speak to her, Lily would distract him and then the moment would have passed, and Lyra would have gone. The guys had told him he was too busy thinking with his dick and although it had made him grin, he was starting to think they might be right. Having only managed to speak to her in the potions store room and having noticed how her and Richardson seemed to be speaking more, Friday night he sent her an owl and snuck out of the dormitory. It had almost pained him to tell Lily he wasn't feeling well but then he remembered Lyra was his best friend and stuck determinedly to his plan, waiting in the disused classroom for her.

"James?" he smiled at the sound of her whisper as he poked his head up from under the desk, seeing her smile and roll her eyes as she made her way in. He felt chuffed with how quietly she moved, remembering the summer of first year and every summer since where he insisted they practise their sneaking. "James we're nearly 17 there is no way in hell we're both fitting underneath there anymore" she whispered, crossing her arms and shaking her head.

"Try" he insisted, wanting, almost needing them to be like they always were. Lyra huffed but he looked pleadingly up at her and she relented as he shimmied back under. They were both laughing almost straight away as Lyra did her best to tuck in, but both of their legs were significantly longer now, and James was broader which meant they were just a tangle of limbs.

"James I'm getting out" she told him, both of them falling out, laughing as quietly as possible as they did so. James got up, holding a hand out for Lyra who took it and he heaved her up, Lyra pulling him to the far side of the desk. They both sat, shoulder to shoulder, legs outstretched.

"So, why am I up at 1 o'clock?" Lyra asked. In the past he would message her if he had something urgent (well, something he deemed urgent and Lyra would often deem to not be) but this time, well, this time he just wanted to spend some time with her. He shrugged, sensing her looking at him.

"I just…missed you I guess" he said quietly, not looking at her. But he heard her sigh, and the silence indicated she was thinking.

"I've missed you" she whispered eventually, and the way she said it made him sad.

"I'm sorry Lyra" he blurted, turning to her, seeing how she looked sad as well as sounding sad. He opened his mouth, but she shook her head and he paused, feeling nervous.

"James you're with Lily. I understand that you want to spend time with her and she's your girlfriend, I get it" Lyra said softly, quietly, and slowly so that James knew she'd thought about this. "But…it hurt James when you ditched me for her in Potions" he winced and realised he was right; she hadn't been fine at all. "I think James that…I think we can be friends but, at least for the time being, we can't really be best friends" she looked so sad at this, and James saw how much he'd hurt her. How he'd really hurt her, and fuck did he feel awful. "I don't want you to keep feeling bad for not doing things and, well, I don't want to keep feeling upset because I feel like you should be doing things" Lyra explained. And he hated how logical she sounded, how sound her argument was. Because he was right; Lily didn't like Lyra and she wanted him to herself. And with how happy he was with her…he had been struggling to refuse her. And how Lyra was giving him this out. She was saying she was doing it for the both of them and he couldn't really blame her.

"We'll still be friends, right?" fuck he sounded genuinely choked up as Lyra gave him a sad smile and nodded.

"Of course. I just…. I think maybe the space will be good for us" she said, beginning to get up.

"Where are you going?" he asked, confused, Lyra just shaking her head.

"We're friends James. Friends don't do this" she gestured between them before turning. He watched her go, feeling hollow before he quickly sprung to his feet and rushed after her, Lyra pausing to turn to him. He didn't give her a chance to argue with him as he pulled her in for a hug, wrapping her tightly against him.

"Friends hug" he told her, hearing her sigh but a moment later she put her arms around him too, making him smile. James had always been the more affectionate one of the two of them and had worked hard to get her to show her affection to him. So not having had a hug from her in nearly two weeks had caused him to suffer, genuinely. She reminded him of home, the smell of her always made him relax, made him feel, although he would never admit it out loud, safe.

"You promise you'll tell me if you ever need me though, right?" he murmured, wanting her to know he would always be here for her, whether they were best friends or not.

"Sure" she replied quietly, her breath tickling his neck and making him smile.

"You gotta promise properly" he told her with a grin, knowing she was rolling her eyes, but she broke away from him, crossing her heart.

"See you later James" Lyra said, giving him a smile before she left, James feeling like she was taking a little part of him with her.